From Special Reports
JACKSON — Drake Gordman rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns Friday night to lead the Starkville Academy football team to a 51-3 victory against Hillcrest Christian in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II game.
Colt Chrestman rushed for 42 yards and a pair of scores. He also caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Houston Clark to help the Volunteers improve to 4-0 and 2-0 in Division II.
Starkville Academy didn’t allow a yard or a first down in the first half. The Cougars (1-3) finished with two first downs, -5 yards rushing, and 46 total yards.
n West Point 35, Columbus 7: At Columbus, Quarterback Dason Thomas threw two touchdowns and the Green Wave defense didn’t allow a score to improve to 2-2 and drop the Falcons to 0-3.
West Point scored the final 28 points of the game. In the first half, Thomas threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Trevino Harris. He added a 33-yard scoring strike to senior Steffon Moore in the second half as West Point bounced back from a 34-3 loss to Starkville.
Senior Demontae Rush added touchdown runs of 31 and 8 yards as part of a 296-yard rushing effort.
Senior cornerback Jalen Lee put the finishing touches on the win with a 98-yard interception return for a score in the final 20 seconds.
Columbus scored on a 65-yard interception return for a score by senior Alex Lipscomb.
n Noxubee County 29, Aberdeen 0: Timorrius Conner threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another as the Tigers won their third straight game.
Conner hit Javarcus Walker from 72 yards, Ladaveon Smith from 25 yards and Kynbotric Nelson from 25 yards. Conner began the scoring by capping a 60-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run.
The story of the night though may have been the Noxubee County defense. The Tigers held the Bulldogs (2-2) to 71 total yards and also had two goal line stands when the game was very much in doubt.
n New Hope 41, Caledonia 17: At Caledonia, Brenton Spann scored three touchdowns Friday night to help the Trojans beat the Confederates.
Spann, who is averaging more than 9.8 yards per carry this season, scored on his first two carries — from 58 and 40 yards. The junior tailback finished with 157 yards on five carries.
New Hope forced three turnovers, including two interceptions of sophomore quarterback Spencer Unruh.
New Hope improved to 3-0 ahead of a home clash against Amory next week. Caledonia fell to 3-1.
n Victory Christian 63, Tabernacle 20: At Columbus, Junior Reed Fulgham was 6 of 7 for 193 yards and three touchdowns to help the Eagles improve to 4-0 and 1-0 in the Christian Football Association.
On the defense, the Eagles forced two turnovers and stopped their opponent five times on fourth down. Senior linebacker and running back Anthony Sharp recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.
Victory Christian will play next week at Meadowview.
n New Site 34, Columbus Christian 26: At Steens, J.T. Herring ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns to help New Site win the battle between the Mississippi High School Activities Association and the MAIS.
KC Cunningham led the Rams with 142 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 32-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Columbus Christian quarterback Dawson Shaw was 5 of 12 for 131 yards with one touchdown.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.